Mindful Eating – some food for thought.

Hey Tigers. This March let’s get mindful.

Instead of dwelling on the problems of the past and worrying about the future, the premise of mindfulness is all about focusing on the present and enjoying the little moments in life as they happen. It has been proven that mindfulness is incredibly beneficial for your overall wellbeing, including helping you clear your head, sleep, concentrate and cope with stress, depression and anxiety.

Mindful eating goes hand in hand with mindfulness.

Mindful eating is the opposite to mindless eating (you know reaching for the chippies and suddenly realise you’ve polished off the entire bag). It instead advocates savouring the food you are eating by tuning into how your senses react to food.

For example. Put a piece of food in your mouth and then put down your fork. Take a moment and think about why you love the food. What kind of flavours are there? How do they work together? Why does it taste good? What are the aromas? What are the colours of the food?

We know, we know. This is a very long question are if you are a hungry hungry hippo. However, there are heaps of benefits if you practice this type of eating. Research shows that mindful eating is one of best methods to counteract binge eating. Instead of unconsciously snacking for the sake of it, mindful eating teaches you to tune into when your body truly need to eat and being able to understand to stop when full. In other words, mindful eating is looking at that bit of leftover chocolate after dinner and hearing your stomach signalling that it doesn’t actually need it.

Mindful eating not only incredibly beneficial for developing healthy eating practices but also fabulous for fostering a great relationship with food. When you stop to savour your food it increases your receptiveness to the nutritional benefits is has on your body. You begin to understand the life cycle of your food, where it has come from and why it is beneficial for your gut health. You want to foster a satisfying, healthy and enjoyable relationship with your food and how it nurtures your body.

So, this March take time to notice what food you are putting into your mouth and how your body reacts to it. What are you actually tasting when you eat and how does it help your holistic health?